Julia de Burgos, one of Puerto Rico’s most celebrated poets and an award-winning writer and journalist, was recognized by the Postal Service on a 44-cent stamp issued September 14, 2010. This stamp is part of the Postal Service’s Literary Arts series. The stamp features a portrait of Julia de Burgos created by artist Jody Hewgill. It joins 75 other Hispanic-themed postage stamps issued by the United States.

About Julia de Burgos

Julia Constanza Burgos García was born February 17, 1914, Carolina, Puerto Rico. Growing up along the Río Grande de Loíza, Julia later wrote, "My childhood was all a poem in the river, and a river in the poem of my first dreams."

Julia graduated from the University of Puerto Rico in 1933 with a two-year teaching degree. While working at various teaching and journalism jobs after graduation, she began publishing poems in journals and newspapers.

Her first collection of poems, Exact Poems to Myself, were written in 1934 and 1935. Among the poems written during this period was the one to become her most famous, "Río Grande de Loíza," a love song to the river of her childhood. Other poems addressed political themes such as equality and social justice. For example, in another poem, she deplored societal restrictions on women, announcing, "I am life, strength, woman."

Julia de Burgos emigrated from Puerto Rico to New York City in 1940 She briefly moved to Cuba, but in 1942 returned to New York City, where she lived until her death in 1953.

Many of her later poems describe the isolation and loneliness she felt in New York, illustrating for Puerto Ricans and other immigrants the importance of community and solidarity.

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